OOPSY!!

Hi all!.Yes, I have been taking one of my infamous Internet breaks and now it seems all my Picasa space for pictures have been used up. I am busy figuring out how to safely buy more space without getting my banking account hacked into....I tried last night and this morning got an e-mail saying someone used the wrong password trying to get access to my account THREE times...!! Oops...  I am working on it you all. We are all well and kicking and I have lots of stories and pictures to share.I shall be visiting all my favourite blogs again today and glad to be back... 

Liesl

xoxo

Some Things I Learned About Bathroom Renovations

Yes,the past two weeks have been a blur of concrete dust all over the house,workmen in and out of the house at all hours of the day,a few mind boggling mishaps prevented.., some not ,while the contractors were only  present for a couple of minutes each day and I found myself having to watch out for the tiler,carpenter,builder etc all trying to bumble up at every opportunity they got...The contractors finally got the message about them not supervising their job as I went about pulling up very expensive porcelain tiles after  the tiler as he went bumbling about his job! I had them prodding holes in the new (skew) cornishes with Cules' bow arrows to make it clear to the carpenter as to what needed fixing too! They tried to tell me that our old house has skew walls,then I went and showed them how their builders built the skew wall! I did it all with amazing grace and dignity...yeah!

• When people tell you to budget for about 15-25% more than what you carefully figured out your makeover will cost,believe it! It really,really does work like that! I did right from the beginning and at least there was no shocker there too! 
• If you are renovating while living in the house,the most exciting part of the whole exercise will be buying the new sanitary ware and tiles! After that step,all excitement faints away into a cloud of concrete dust and workmen bumbles...
• If building new walls etc is involved,very,very carefully think your plans over and make sure it is workable.
• Take your time before starting,I went to our local CTM store 3 days running and spent about four hours there every day looking at tiles,baths,basins,taps etc (had an excellent salesman there who pulled me away from the Tivoli taps and showed me why I should go for taps with a 40mm cartridge to cope with our hard water and lower water pressure on the farm) After spending time there with the salesman and the very helpful contractors, I made sure to also send them all away and look and think things over on my own with a clear head...Cules made sure to give me free rein and not go anywhere near the hardware store which was a very good thing really! All he said was that as long as we had a decent,huge shower I could choose any slipper bath I wanted! Yes,yes!
• DO get in the bath in the shop and lay there awhile,it's amusing to see the expressions on the salesman's faces...They have to earn their money and are their for your convenience.....Be sure you drag your daughters there  and make them climb in the tub too..
• Never pass over tiles you like because it is not your "style" and then go for something you don't really like because you think you know your "style" I would never in my wildest dreams have thunk that I would end up with a contemporary country,Zennish style bathroom ever!! That is the first bathroom that is almost finished now with the shower. Everyone in the family loves the feel you get walking into that space now. We decided to use the shower for at least three days,then decided to not install a glass screen/door, which makes it feel even more spacious and Zen like! The whole thing came together amazingly well. Beautiful,restful with clean lines...just what a farmer and his wife needs after a long dusty day! I never thought I would see my husband shower three times a day!! I KID YOU NOT.
• It is one of the most expensive makeovers in your house,after the kitchen,so do go for the things you want to have,even if it is a little more expensive than what you think you should probably spend. You are going to spend a whole lot of time in that tub thinking about the one you would rather have wanted!! 
• Make sure your contractors know what you want,talk to them,ask stupid questions and keep them on their toes in a good way!! You could always nail them over the head with a hammer on the last day when they leave and you are sure everything is working well...or go about it in a more lady-like fashion and offer them a beer laced with a good dose of brooklax on their way out...
• If you are not happy with a tiling job,tear it up yourself before the tiling cement dries! That way you won't have to buy more tiles!! It is the contractor's job to insure the job is properly done!
• I have learned that if I ever have to do over a house again,I would live outside in a tent...

It's fun breaking down walls Madam!

If it wasn't so much work breaking down that crate,that's where I would have spend my time sipping cocktails for the past two weeks!

The slipper bath should be installed and ready to use in the next couple of days.

I couldn't believe the good condition of the trusses of this old house

New ceiling going up.

Update and more pics to follow in a few days!

Have a super weekend all.

The End

Vegetable Garden

Yesterday I went to pick some peas from the garden. All the veggies are coming along nicely and I took some fun pictures . I have never grown peas before and didn't  expect them to have such lovely little flowers. I picked and smelled and looked and dreamed for quite a while before realising I had left my phone in the house and had to run and get it as I was expecting an important call. Minki got locked into the garden and was very miffed at me as I got back...I teased her and took some pics of her from the other side of the fence...she'd plonked herself down like that on the side of a spring onion bed looking a little bit forlorn and somewhat  cross...

At first she was trying her best to ignore me,but soon got over her little tantrum!

You KNOW I love you Minki!

Sweetcorn and Broccoli

Broccoli should be ready to harvest in 2 weeks or so....

I have used NO insecticides or fertilizer of any kind on these plants!

Just a bit of horse manure when we started the garden.

Sweetcorn tops...

My idea of petites poi's....

I like whole young peas served with a good rib eye steak..

Mango tree stump serving as a table...

The welshies came along to ask for some greens...

Pea flowers...

Spring onions also almost ready...

Tomatoes playing  peek - a - boo

Oh,to taste my own sun ripened-on-the-vine tomatoes again!

The End

First Pony Party

Our first pony party took place today and it was a huge success. I took Rhys Ceiniog and Tinkerbell who did us proud and never put a foot wrong! The ponies had to deal with strange surroundings, a jumping castle,yapping jack russels and a noisy swimming pool. The kids jumped onto the ponies wet from their swim and they never even flinched....You would have thunk they've been doing it for years and years.
When we arrived the kids stormed the horsebox en masse...we weren't sure whether to smile or run for the hills...! The birthday girl sure was popular for having ponies at her party.

Directions on how to get to the party..

Just follow the balloons in the bundus...

Cules with Rhys Ceiniog.

Look at those lovely lemon trees..

They are blossoming, that smell is just divine...

I can never get enough of it!

Rhys Ceiniog and Tinkerbell

Have a blessed Sunday all!

xoxo

The End

Spring Rains!

We have been enjoying sweet,soft rains for the past two nights and days non-stop..bliss!! Always a relief to know the dusty season is over and "dusted" with. So,today,

We don't plan on doing anything much....

I brushed my teeth with 2 cups of coffee,hair looking like a porcupine and only got dressed at 9:00am!

I plan to just waddle about, doing some house chores to the sound of Abba,John Denver,French Cafe music 

and some Irish melodies off course!!!

A glimpse of the wet veggie patch.

We ate our first Chinese cabbage last night!

The sweetcorn are forming cobs and the  peas are flowering.

The Welshies are making good use of their shed..

I have a ton of peppers to freeze...

any ideas there..

sauces etc...

Then I have to bake something,

cake or pudding for the sweet tooth's in the family?

The End

Give A Doggie A Bone.....

It's THAT time of year again...the African bush is abuzz with men-a- hunting at night. A time of making biltong and dried wors. When the farmers phone to tell Cules that the porcupines, duikers,kudus,reedbucks and such are ruining their prize crops,the men get all excited like teeny little boys and off  they go, carting their artillery of guns,knives,spotlights,torches,two way radios, ..and..oops....don't forget the dogs!!...leaving their wives at home shaking their heads and mumbling to themselves..grabbing firm hold of the remote control and settling down comfortably in front of the telly with a glass of wine...Then,after the carcass had been hanging in the cool room for a couple of days...the real work starts when they have to process the meat...

Like this..

When the men get to work on the meat,they sometimes have funny expressions on their faces and they look like they are actually smacking their lips at the thought of all that biltong...

When Minki gets to work on her bone,her tail gets curlier and curlier..

"Hmm, I am going to lie down over there under yonder tree with my bone....

Oh no,the chickens are going to try steal my bone there...I should go hide in the grass over that a way....

oh no, the ducks are going to bother me there..."

What to do!

"Ish raather heavy thees bone..going to lie down right here"

Yum yum..

Nom nom..

Chomp chomp...

Thank you very much,

but no,I don't need any soup bones,

and don't you dare give that to Minki!!

Sheez!

Kudu biltong in the making!

The End

A Gift To Self

Do you ever buy a gift for yourself?? I very rarely do,but, when I saw this book..I had to have it,it was huge,it was monumental, a "can't ever be without it"....kind of gift..,something no-one else was ever going to see and say.."oh my word, Liesl has just GOT to have this"

That's right!

The Bread Bible

by Christine Ingram and Jennie Shapter

I just HAD to do that..

People sometimes tell me that maybe I don't always act like I am 10-4 "up there"

Now we know it...

It gave me such pleasure writing those words..

Maybe 300 years from now some great,great,great,great,great grandchild will see that and think..."OMW..that's where I get it from...!"

A truly amazing book on bread making....

The End

A Good Day...

Had a fab time today...went shopping for 2 classy Arabian horses with Jessica and her boyfriend, we drove around the whole day searching and checking out some nice horses and Charl bought two big,stunning (recently) geldings..One of Crabbet line breeding and the other Egyptian...

First off we were confronted by this.....

The rare "Black Pearl"

Pure bred,fully registered BLACK Arabian stallion!!!

So,so scarce,only a handful of them in the world today..

BUT..,That is Charl nearest to the camera,he is looking for riding horses...unfortunately,the black stallion is WAY too small for him...we were so tempted though...

This was more size able though.., the Egyptian gelding...

...sorry about the dust on the camera lens...

The Crabbet gelding...He made my heart go pitter pat...

There was a lot of picture taking going on.....

Jess likes the Egyptian guy most...

Then ,at home, there was this..

This also made my heart go pitter pat   (I like those words...)

It's my new favourite; pitter pat,pitter pat...

Arabians?? BORING!!

I am Roly House Of Stars

I am the Resident Welsh Sec B colt

I just had my lunch

I am guarding the gate 'till Supper comes around...

I AM LEGEND...

The End

Update on last two weeks!

Been very busy doing lots of things lately...A 23 year Matric Reunion,what a blast..,buying and selling Historical Boerperde and Arabians....,buying sheep and goats....,doing repairs on the farm,fences etc...and a horrible event much too close too home and all too common these days here in South Africa that left me shaken and upset.....I try to only focus on the positive but this I feel I must share....


Let's get the BAD off and done with first...last Thursday afternoon as I was about 7km away from our farm travelling very slowly with a huge load off round grass bales I purchased for our horses and blissfully thinking about what to wear and pack for Cules and I for  my 3 day long Matric Reunion event we were leaving for the next day...I get this call from my daughter Tarien's  girlfriend......" Aunty Liesl,Aunty Liesl,it's Anna..., come quick.... my Dad has just been shot at the chicken house....!!!!.....and the phone goes dead......I immediately phoned Cules and told him (he phoned the police) and drove on as fast as I could...I was first on the scene and there stood our friend, blood streaming of his face and holding a shattered arm (bullet wounds)...he was standing right next to the road and had been for a while and not one car stopped to help!!!! About one minute later Cules and another friend arrived and Cules drove the victim to the private hospital in Tzaneen..I got a frantic call from his wife and tried to calmly tell her her husband is alert and on his  way to hospital....After X rays and cleaned up they discovered FOUR bullet marks on his head...he calmly told the doctors how the thieves tried to execute him by shooting him in the head from behind and how each time when he sensed the shot was going to be fired he tried desperately to move his head aside...it worked and the bullets glanced of his skull every time....! We are all so relieved that he is OK...words cannot express how I feel about crime in this beautiful country...If I could, I would take my kids and move to America in a heartbeat and leave everything here....


OK,rant over...moving on....

The Historical Boerperd Stud I went to visit to find some horses for various customers...

The Three Musketeers..

In a herd of about 30 something horses these three brothers were hanging together all the time...

"Buy me,no buy me,no,no me!!"..was what they seemed to be saying to me...

The beautiful big dark bay on the left had an injury so I left him..

The stunning cream in the middle has a tendency to buck..so needless to say he stayed as well...

The tiny,ugly Roman nosed little dun however..I am going to fetch this morning..I already bought and sold a huge bright bay gelding from this herd last week...

This was hilarious..the big steel grey (recently gelded ) stallion crept up on his sons and created a bit of havoc in their genteel day...

As a final test for some special horses...I made the owner turn the whole herd loose after they have been standing in the corral the whole day,,as you can see it was dusk by then...

As the horses disappeared in the far distant setting sun...I asked the owner to call them back again...

and this big blazed mare whom I liked very much and a yearling filly were the only ones to come back immediately.

Unfortunately the mare has an old injury and the filly is still too young...

I have to try really hard not to buy all the ones I like!!

My husband would KEEL me!!

The 23 year Matric reunion!!

These pics were all taken with phones so excuse the quality.

Eruka and me.

I was the only girl who had given up dying her hair for the moment..hrmph!!!

I see that my huge glass of vino is almost empty here..no wonder I am laying my head down on Eruka's shoulder...

I never touched alcohol in school and was very keen to show the everyone that 23 years on,I had learned a thing or two about Chocolate Tequila Shot drinking!!!

What fun we had!

Everybody partied and chatted very late into the night....For three days running!

My very best friend from Gr 1 right to Gr 12!

Heila has just recovered from breast cancer....

You go Girl!!

The End

A Glorious Mess

Yesterday,my neighbor across the road, phoned and asked me if he could buy back two of the geese he gave me last year.  It seems his dogs are not good guard dogs and he wanted a couple of noisy geese back in his yard...I said sure,take two, I am not selling you back the geese...!! We are always buying animals,boats and such, back and forth, but really, he could have the geese.. So, the nice gentleman brought me two big boxes of oranges from the farm where he works! SO cool. I got the jug out and started squeezing fresh orange juice..so much better than the sugared up stuff you buy in the shops!! It got quite messy,but I was very happy making the mess..... My girls are going to love the fresh juice!

Winter Scenes Around The Farm

Midwinter in all it's glorious bounty....Export quality oranges and naartjies(from the farms next door), papayas,granadellas etc. Baby chick lets,wild guinea fowl and duiker (deer) on the lawn,blossoming peaches and mango's starting to show blossoms. The hens are laying eggs like there is no tomorrow again,after being frightfully overwhelmed with eggs last year after Cules bought me ten point of lay pullets, I decided not to buy any this year as  my  yard hens( a lot of them off spring of last years Rhode Island Red hens!) are laying eggs a-plenty..!

 Cold inside the house and "too hot to wear a jersey outside" kinda days..This is the month when I can sow almost any type of vegetable seed on the farm to harvest early in October before the weather starts getting hot.

 We are planting:

 Sweet corn,different types of tomatoes,bell peppers,chillies,capsicums,cucumbers,lettuce, peas,carrots,Chinese cabbage,broccoli,spinach, green beans,onions and spring onions this week.

OH, and lets NOT forget about those sweet melons and the watermelons...!I am drying about a kilo of naartjie and orange peel for baking and cooking which should last me about a year. My dill are just kicking into gear and already I have also dried enough of that for a year!

Lots of these entertaining little ones around presently...

A glimpse of the wild guinea fowl in the distance...there are around 40 of them doing the rounds in the mornings now...

The four tame guinea fowl are all still surviving and hanging with The Man...

This sight STILL disturbs me deeply every time I see them.......

Peach tree blossoms...

An abandoned bird nest in a peach tree...

Winter "veldt" on the farm..

One of my favourite trees.....

Checking for bushpigs.....

"Hardekool" tree....

Very,very hard wood...

Getting the first corn seeds into the veggie garden.....

We severely trimmed this mango tree instead of cutting it down so I can smell those blossoms in September when I start to harvest my crop...

The End